Just the other night I went for an ice cream cone with the family. It's what you do in the summer, and so I was surprised outside Baskin-Robbins on Highway 43 in West Linn when a woman waving a scoop of ice cream in a sugar cone stopped to confront me.

I was just about to compliment her on how cute her three children were. Especially the youngest, who was wearing an oversize adult sweatshirt like a dress and what looked like a chocolate mustache, when mom blurted, "I just want to thank you for causing me a couple of sleepless months."

She then told me her name was Jennifer Schiele, and that she is the principal at Lakeridge High School.

Not sure why she's angry at me. All I did was write a column in April on the elitist adults at Lakeridge High who conducted a charade during the search for a new football coach.

They were mired in a crisis. They'd embarrassed themselves last football season, and been sanctioned by the OSAA. I wrote, "This is how you handle a crisis, children: You smile, pretend to clean it up, and go right back to the bankrupt model that caused the trouble in the first place. The students at Lakeridge are paying attention. They're getting the education of a lifetime."

Now-retired Lake Oswego School District Superintendent Bill Korach, a guy who doesn't take well to being told what to do, was the biggest offender. He failed to interview qualified candidates who were interested in the job. Some of those who did interview said they felt all along that the process was hasty, rushed, and designed to keep the controversial Chad Carlson in charge of the program.

In fact, one successful area coach who was interviewed said he was specifically asked during his interview if he would welcome Carlson as an offensive coordinator.

"I nearly fell out of my chair," the coach said. "If they just wanted to hire Carlson back what was I doing being interviewed?"

Carlson ended up the recommendation of the hiring committee, but Korach knew he couldn't sell that wholesale. He had to get creative. Remember, Carlson helped coach Lakeridge High to 41 personal fouls last season. He was among the large group of coaches at Lakeridge who didn't get OSAA certification but coached anyway. He was also the guy arrested five years ago, handcuffed and taken to detox after scuffling with police on the MAX platform after a UFC event at the then-Rose Garden arena.

"It would be more like a director of football operations," Parke told The Oregonian. "It's not a formal title, but he would be doing a lot -- a lot more than just offensive coordination."

This brings us to the sleep-deprived woman waving the ice cream cone --- Schiele. Because she was the principal, the primary educator on the campus at Lakeridge. At this point, it was her duty to take a big step back and knock sense into the whole process. But in the end, she quickly approved this orchestrated move, passing the buck, and I can only assume she then skipped away for a double-scoop in a waffle cone.

I told Schiele as she was hurrying away in front of the ice cream parlor that the best thing that came from the Lakeridge High football fiasco was the display from hard-working, passionate citizens in her community who came forward to express how much they cared. There are a lot of schools that don't have parents and former students who would pick up a phone, write an email, or appear at a school board meeting to express heartfelt opinions.

"Hold up. You think I'm the one who caused you to lose sleep?" I asked her, as she walked off. "You sure about that?"

"You didn't help," she fired back.

In that moment, I realized instantly that Lakeridge High is just getting warmed up. Think about it: Schiele's campus had all 14 football coaches (including its athletic director, Ian Lamont) working with kids without any of them having OSAA certification. This doesn't just break OSAA rules, it violates Oregon law. Further, they spent Fridays embarrassing their community, one personal foul at a time.

You want to sleep well? Buy a good pillow. Also, stop trampling the rules and flouting the process. Hire good coaches, get them certified and stop blaming others.

I emailed Schiele after our run-in, offering to buy her an ice cream cone if she wanted to sit down and talk. I figured if she were really losing sleep, it couldn't possibly be because of me. I really do believe she and the now-retired Korach blew an opportunity to splinter the elitist mentality that has infected Lakeridge High (See: $2.425 million football stadium project presented amid rampant budget cuts). I do hope that Korach's replacement, Heather Beck, is a leader.

I also hope Schiele rethinks her role in this, and does better. I've seen coaches and executives learn from their mistakes. But only after they're willing to acknowledge them and evolve.

You should know Schiele declined my offer, writing, "I'm going to pass on the ice cream interview." Funny thing though. A few days later, I was in the same ice cream joint, picking up a cone with one of my daughters and guess who walked in the place with a line of cute kids in tow?